Which card to use for car rental and hotel, CSP or Venture?

[Anonymous]

A friend and I are headed to Iceland for a couple weeks. Just curious which card we should use to rent the car. I have a CSP and he has a Venture. Am I correct in assuming that the CSP has better rental coverage than the Venture? I've read that Chase now has no country exclusions and is now primary CDW insurance. I haven't found anywhere that CO Venture offers any insurance for car rentals whatsoever. Also, has anyone dealt with Chase for an accident?

And how about hotels. Are there any advantages to using one of those cards over the other?

Thanks

*mods, please move this if I've posted this in the wrong forum. 

[Closingracer99]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

A friend and I are headed to Iceland for a couple weeks. Just curious which card we should use to rent the car. I have a CSP and he has a Venture. Am I correct in assuming that the CSP has better rental coverage than the Venture? I've read that Chase now has no country exclusions and is now primary CDW insurance. I haven't found anywhere that CO Venture offers any insurance for car rentals whatsoever. Also, has anyone dealt with Chase for an accident?

And how about hotels. Are there any advantages to using one of those cards over the other?

Thanks

*mods, please move this if I've posted this in the wrong forum. 

---

Primary coverage for Car rentals means little for US based Credit Cards because almost all of the major ones are primary outside the country. The CSP is primary in the states which is important though but other cards like the citi premier, AAdvantage and so forth which offer Car rental insurance as secondary is primary outside the country though. That being said I would go with Chase IMHO. I rather deal with chase 99.99% of the time over Capital one. Plus you get 2X points with the CSP which is nice. I would also look at what car class you want to rent. Some have restrictions on what class like most cards restrict it to cars lower than luxury cars. If you wanted to rent a luxury car and not pay the agencies CDW I would look at Amex premium coverage which is $20 or $25 per rental up to 30 days i believe per rental? It is primary and covers luxury rentals as well. I would still look into buying SLI because this coverage won't cover SLI. SLI basically covers other cars and incidents which limits your libality. For example if you crash your car into somebody elses with CDW the damage caused to the rental would be covered but without SLI the damage you cause the other person, car or property won't be covered. 

Since you are going to Iceland I would check the rental agency and make sure you don't already have CDW though. I know a lot of them in Europe already include CDW in the rental price unlike in the States. I am not sure if this would cover Americans or whatever but I would go check it out. Enterprise and Alamo has a decent fleet sizes in Europe so I would check them? 

As far as hotels goes I would just use a card with 0% FTF since well it has a 0% FTF. I would jsut use the CSP everywhere possible IMHO.

[jsucool76]

Also check if the primary coverage from the CSP even applies to iceland rentals. You'd need to call customer service or the visa benefits administrator. or check your benefit guide.

[takeshi74]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Am I correct in assuming that the CSP has better rental coverage than the Venture? I've read that Chase now has no country exclusions and is now primary CDW insurance. 

---

I can't speak to the specifics of those 2 cards but for any comparison carefully read the terms for each to determine which suits you best if you're going to rely on the coverage.  Make sure you understand what's covered, what isn't covered and other such details.  Don't rely solely on forum posts and don't assume.  For my requirements I found AmEx's premium rental coverage to be a best fit despite the added cost but YMMV depending on your specific needs.

[Closingracer99]

---

@jsucool76 wrote:
Also check if the primary coverage from the CSP even applies to iceland rentals. You'd need to call customer service or the visa benefits administrator. or check your benefit guide.

---

As I said before most of the major bank credit cards that offer rental CDW that is secondary offers it primary outside the country including the CSP which already offers it as primary in the states. I've read up the terms for the CSP back when I had the card and unless they changed since around a year ago it covers Iceland.

[jsucool76]

I mean, it doesn't specifically say iceland and even says to call and check.

"The benefit is available in the United States and most foreign countries. Coverage is not available where it is prohibited by law or by individual merchants, or is in violation of the territory terms of the rental agreement. Please note: Regulations vary outside the United States, so we recommend that you check with your auto rental company and Benefit Administrator before you travel to make sure your Auto Rental CDW will apply."

[Anonymous]

---

@Closingracer99 wrote:

Primary coverage for Car rentals means little for US based Credit Cards because almost all of the major ones are primary outside the country. The CSP is primary in the states which is important though but other cards like the citi premier, AAdvantage and so forth which offer Car rental insurance as secondary is primary outside the country though. That being said I would go with Chase IMHO. I rather deal with chase 99.99% of the time over Capital one. Plus you get 2X points with the CSP which is nice. I would also look at what car class you want to rent. Some have restrictions on what class like most cards restrict it to cars lower than luxury cars. If you wanted to rent a luxury car and not pay the agencies CDW I would look at Amex premium coverage which is $20 or $25 per rental up to 30 days i believe per rental? It is primary and covers luxury rentals as well. I would still look into buying SLI because this coverage won't cover SLI. SLI basically covers other cars and incidents which limits your libality. For example if you crash your car into somebody elses with CDW the damage caused to the rental would be covered but without SLI the damage you cause the other person, car or property won't be covered. 

Since you are going to Iceland I would check the rental agency and make sure you don't already have CDW though. I know a lot of them in Europe already include CDW in the rental price unlike in the States. I am not sure if this would cover Americans or whatever but I would go check it out. Enterprise and Alamo has a decent fleet sizes in Europe so I would check them? 

As far as hotels goes I would just use a card with 0% FTF since well it has a 0% FTF. I would jsut use the CSP everywhere possible IMHO.

---

Thanks for the reply. I found out that all rentals in Iceland include liability coverage by law. So that will help. I believe I've decided to go with the CSP to rent the car and use their coverage. I'll report back if I end up having to use it. I thought about going the AmEx route, but I'm gonna try the CSP and see how that works. I really want to make the CSP my one and only travel expense card.

I think my buddy is going to use his card for the hotels. 

---

@jsucool76 wrote:
Also check if the primary coverage from the CSP even applies to iceland rentals. You'd need to call customer service or the visa benefits administrator. or check your benefit guide.

---

The CSP applies to all countries apparently. But I called to be sure and yes, they do cover Iceland. I found out that the reason some countries are excluded by most cards is that there are laws CDW coverage and there's no way to deny this in those countries. But with the CSP, they will then act as secondary coverages in those countries that you can't deny coverage. In these cases they will cover your deductible from the primary CDW. 

Here is an excerpt from one of the car rental agencies I'm considering:

"Insurance

18) The lease sum/rental fee includes mandatory vehicle insurance, that includes liability insurance and accident insurance for the driver and the owner.

19) Third-party liability insurance consists of the amount stipulated by Icelandic law at any given time.

20) The lessee can purchase separate accident (All-risks) insurance. This policy will specify the amount deductible in each instance of loss."

The all-risks insurance is basically the CDW, gravel, and sand/ash coverage. I spoke with Chase and they said that they will cover these types of losses as well. I made sure to point out the very specific add-on insurances and again they said they would cover this as well. I will probably call again one more time to confirm what the first benfits agent said. 

Thanks again for the help. I'll report back if I end up having to use the coverage, I really hope not. My trip isn't for a few months so it might be some time before I update this. Any other suggestions would still be appreciated. 

[RonM21]

---

@takeshi74 wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Am I correct in assuming that the CSP has better rental coverage than the Venture? I've read that Chase now has no country exclusions and is now primary CDW insurance. 

---

I can't speak to the specifics of those 2 cards but for any comparison carefully read the terms for each to determine which suits you best if you're going to rely on the coverage.  Make sure you understand what's covered, what isn't covered and other such details.  Don't rely solely on forum posts and don't assume.  For my requirements I found AmEx's premium rental coverage to be a best fit despite the added cost but YMMV depending on your specific needs.

---

Good point. Go.with what works for you and so your research to be sure.